We started our second day in Reykjavik at the Blue Lagoon. It’s definitely a tourist trap but something that you have to do at least once. The drive out to the Blue Lagoon was past miles and miles of lava fields as far as you could see. When we got there, we had to head into the locker rooms where you need to shower and put conditioner in your hair because the water in the blue lagoon can ruin your hair.
The Blue Lagoon is actually run-off from a geothermal energy plant. It’s water is full of silica that gives it the blue color. The silica is also collected and is said to have healing properties for the skin to the point that they actually have a special clinic onsite that treats people with severe skin conditions like Psoriasis and Excema.
You need to store all of your belongings in lockers that are operated by a wrist band. Then when you enter the lagoon, the wrist band can also be used to buy drinks at the swim up bar. Although there are many people in the lagoon it really doesn’t feel too crowded because its so big and spread out. We enjoyed having a lemonade in the water and searching for hot spots to relax in. We didn’t stay too long in the water and eventually got out to take pictures and grab a bite to eat in the cafe.
Swimming area of the Blue Lagoon
Swimming area of the Blue Lagoon with the swim up bar
Once we finished taking pictures of the area of the blue lagoon that you can swim in we went outside and walked along a path that goes through the lava fields and beside different pools and streams of run-off from the lagoon which was also very pretty.
Runoff through the lava
Pool outside of the Blue Lagoon
Pool outside of the Blue Lagoon
Pool outside of the Blue Lagoon
Lava field outside of the Blue Lagoon that went as far as the eye could see. If you look closely you can see people standing just above and a bit right of center.
We took the bus back to the new harbor where the ship was docked and immediately took a 15 minute shuttle ride into the center of Reykjavik to see the famous church, Hallgrimskirkja (the church of Hallgrimur) that can be seen from the harbor and from everywhere in the city.
The shuttle dropped us off by the water front and near this cube building. We then walked up towards the shopping district past a little park and up to the church which is at a fairly high point in the city. We were able to also go inside of the church to take some pictures. The inside was very pretty too with an impressive organ.
The Cube Building
Statue in a park that we think was Leif Ericcsson
A view up one of the Main Streets toward the church
The church and the statue that is right in front of it
A view fo the church from beyond the statue
Inside of the church
The organ
Another view of the church
After we went to see the church we did some shopping on the 2 main shopping streets in town and had some really good coffee and cakes and muffins at a little cafe where we got an outdoor table and watched the world go by for a bit. After we finished shopping we made our way back down to the waterfront where we could see our chip far off in the distance. There was a nice little walking path running along the waterfront so we walked along that to see the sculpture that they have by the old harbor.
The waterfront looking back towards the ship
Sculpture by the waterfront
After we got back to our stateroom, we saw some Dolphins. We had our dinner and asked the crew if they had been out the night before because we had spent the night in Reykjavik and we had seen many of the crew heading off the ship as we arrived back from our excursion the night before but they all said that they did not go out, it was too cold. Most of them are from warm countries like Bali. The crew that we did see leaving the ship were all bundled up in gloves and ear warmers and hats. We were getting back from an all day excursion in T-shirts and feeling pretty comfortable.
We set sail for Isafjourdur Iceland where we will arrive in the morning.